Category Archives: Laguna Beach Real Estate

The more I do these Laguna human interest stories the more I’m interested in people and families that have shaped our blessed town by designing the most iconic buildings and landscapes that Laguna is known for.

Fred Briggs is one of those people and is probably one to the best keep secrets in town.

From Main Beach’s design, to the library, to the most outrageous modern homes in Laguna, he did it all.

And he’s one of Architectural Digest’s top 100 architects ever.

Fred Briggs was one of the early, pioneering, modern architects in Southern California. After serving in the Navy during World War two, he settled into Laguna Beach shortly after graduating from the USC school of Architecture in 1948.

He went on to establish what would become an extraordinary and successful architectural practice of 52 years which would impact architectural concepts will beyond California’s borders.

Fred’s innumerable contributions to the field of architecture were not limited to the spectacular and timeless residences for which he is best known.

One of his most successful and memorable contributions was the design of Main Beach in Laguna whose charm and warmth has drawn millions of visitors and residents alike, and the Lifeguard Tower is said to be one of California’s most photographed structures.

Fred also designed the Laguna Beach Library and the Dana Point Library. He sat on numerous boards, was instrumental in the early planning and design of the Master Plans for Laguna Beach and was directly responsible for the sign ordinance which continues to greatly enhance the look of the city today.

A 52 year member of the American Institute of Architects, Orange County Chapter, his work brought him extensive honors and recognition including being named one of the top one hundred residential architects in the world by Architectural Digest , AD100 Issue, professional awards and media attention, but Fred was most taken by the respect and admiration of his peers.

Some of his best well known projects in Laguna Beach are the Jeffries house at Rockledge, the downtown library and the fire station at the Top of the World.

Fred also completed significant projects outside of Laguna Beach, such as the Bornstein residence in Beverly Hills and the Sahm residence on Rancho Santa Fe.

But George, who typically did large churches, museums, LA Coliseum type of work didn’t stop at the Horizon house but went on to design midcentury modern houses on the same street, National Park, as the Horizon house. Drive around and check them out.

So the first neighborhood in Laguna Niguel was modern houses which are far a few to find to this day in the town.

LFA’s most ‘talked about’ house tour

It’s a fascinating story of how one of the most unique ‘non-wood’ homes in the U.S. ended up in Laguna NiguelIt was the first home built in the planned city in the early 60’sLFA’s favorite architectural historian and aficionado, Ted Wells, will be speaking about this most interesting architectural experiment

This free self-guided Home Tour will include another chance for you to see the mushroom-shaped concrete shell “Horizon House”…please bring your friends and your favorite drinks and snacks to share!

Ted Wells will begin his talk at 4:00.

Saturday October 29, 2014 from 3:00PM to 5:00PM at 31911 National Park, Laguna Niguel, near the Crown Valley Parkway.

Did you know that the 7,000 acre Laguna Niguel was design by the ‘Father of the Mall’ architect Victor Gruen?

Have you wondered why up to recently there was no City Hall or downtown area – Find out why

Laguna Niguel and the malls he designed left a BITTER TASTE for the architect. They weren’t built the way he designed them and changed the US ‘for the worse’ he and others say

Back in the late 50’s an East Coast investment firm Cabot, Cabot and Forbes gathered 6,000 investors and started the Laguna Niguel Corporation. There were literally no houses at that time.

They hired the famous ‘Father of the Mall’ architect Victor Gruen to design the 7,000 acre planned community, the first in California.

Now Victor is a major shaper of the US culture. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Gruen). Because he invented the modern mall,Malcolm Gladwell, writing in The New Yorker, suggested that “Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century.”

When he designed the first enclosed malls (of which he did 50 but also set the trend) he designed them so they were a newly integrated town with residential, schools, medical facilities and community gathering places like parks to be part of the surrounding area around the mall. Well, the developers stripped his integration ideas and just build the shopping part leaving to suburban sprawl and the death of the urban areas we have today.

In a speech in London in 1978, Gruen disavowed shopping mall developments as having “bastardized” his ideas: He said “I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments” meaning he would never shop at one.

Well the same thing kind of happened in Laguna Niguel where the planned city he designed was to be centered where the new city hall is built at Alica and Crown but it never was and it ended up being a town without any real integration and a sprawling bedroom community.

The Laguna Niguel ‘Horizon’ house – Part of a National Experiment to build houses without wood

But George, who typically did large churches, museums, LA Coliseum type of work didn’t stop at the Horizon house but went on to design midcentury modern houses on the same street, National Park, as the Horizon house. Drive around and check them out.

So the first neighborhood in Laguna Niguel was modern houses which are far a few to find to this day in the town.